The present invention is directed to a one-way valve assembly including a valve body with an elastomeric member tightly enclosing and sealed to the valve body so that fluid entering between the elastomeric member and the outside surface of the valve body is prevented from bypassing the normal fluid flow path through the valve.
The present invention is an improvement on the one-way valve disclosed in the Gerber patent 4,846,810. In Gerber the elastomeric member is secured to the valve body by O-rings. As indicated in Gerber, it is also possible to secure the elastomeric member to the valve body by various other means such as adhesive material, chemical bonding and the like.
In the patent to Pardes, 5,092,855, an improvement on the Gerber patent, an enclosing sleeve is disclosed with inwardly directed protuberances for sealing the elastomeric member to the valve body. In this patent the protuberances exert a radially inwardly directed force for achieving the sealing effect.
These known one-way valves, while effective for providing one-way flow and preventing contamination from entering into the fluid being dispensed, have a problem in assembling the parts of the valve in a simple and costeffective manner.